I agree to the extent that measures like these can be harmful to democracy, that some of them are, and that this topic needs to be discussed seriously. At the same time, I think it’s too simplistic to say that all such measures are per se anti-democratic.
In the article, I mentioned Germany’s law against incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung) and noted that it is controversial for exactly this reason. The goal of the law is a “militant democracy” (wehrhafte Demokratie), a democratic system that can defend itself against extremist political movements. The reason for this approach lies in our historical experience with National Socialism. The same applies to Germany’s law that allows extremist parties to be banned under very specific conditions.
That said, the legitimacy of such laws is controversial for good reasons. They can be — and occasionally are — misused, including by center and center-left political actors. This might be a good topic for a follow-up article in the future.
I agree to the extent that measures like these can be harmful to democracy, that some of them are, and that this topic needs to be discussed seriously. At the same time, I think it’s too simplistic to say that all such measures are per se anti-democratic.
In the article, I mentioned Germany’s law against incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung) and noted that it is controversial for exactly this reason. The goal of the law is a “militant democracy” (wehrhafte Demokratie), a democratic system that can defend itself against extremist political movements. The reason for this approach lies in our historical experience with National Socialism. The same applies to Germany’s law that allows extremist parties to be banned under very specific conditions.
That said, the legitimacy of such laws is controversial for good reasons. They can be — and occasionally are — misused, including by center and center-left political actors. This might be a good topic for a follow-up article in the future.